1. Technical Field
The embodiments of the invention relate to an apparatus for providing supplementary information of multimedia contents, a recorded medium for providing supplementary information, and a personal storage device; more particularly, the embodiments of the invention relate to an apparatus for providing supplementary information, a recorded medium for providing supplementary information, and a personal storage device, with which the supplementary information of multimedia contents can be accessed without being constrained by time or location.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recent times have seen rapid advances in digital broadcasting, as a result of which broadcasting stations can now not only transmit A/V (audio/video) broadcast signals, but can also transmit various data broadcast signals in either a combined or an independent form.
Such data broadcasts can be classified into synchronized data broadcasts and independent data broadcasts, depending on whether or not the data broadcast signals and the A/V broadcast signals are synchronized, and can provide the user with various information through an application transmitted together.
In a synchronized type data broadcast service, the data broadcast information must inherently coincide with the schedule of the A/V currently being broadcasted. That is, the synchronized data broadcast for a drama program should begin at the same time the drama program begins and end when the drama program ends. Also, the application of the data broadcast should be executed based on the schedule information for the broadcast program.
Thus, in a conventional synchronized type data broadcast service, the user may no longer be able to obtain information on programs once the broadcast is finished, and the user may have to personally search SNS (social networking service) posts or forums of the broadcasting station, etc., in order to obtain such information.
As a solution to this problem, Korean Patent Publication No. 2001-0096552 (title of invention: Apparatus and Method for Providing and Obtaining Product Information through Broadcast Signals) discloses a method and apparatus for providing and obtaining product information in which product information is provided together with the picture signals, and a terminal such as a computer or a television set receiving the information compares the continuously received product information with the product information received previously, adds to the previously stored product information if the product information is determined to be new, and provides the stored product information upon request by the user.
The prior art invention identified above, however, is to provide product information and hence merely presents the user with a guide for purchasing. The above invention is limited in that it does not address the issue of providing the user with various data broadcast information through an application provided together.
Also, in the prior art invention identified above, the criterion for storing product information involves simply determining whether or not the information matches the previously stored product information and storing all information if it was not stored already, thus leaving room for improvements in terms of efficient use of data resources.